Speaker 1: We welcome, welcome, everyone to the second episode of the
Speaker 1: Breakthrough Lab. I am your host, Giovanni Ramirez, and remember
Speaker 1: your next breakthrough starts here. So second episode. So many
Speaker 1: things to make this show happen here in our Stanford studio,
Speaker 1: and I can even tell you how much pain I
Speaker 1: put my good friend here for run A Nod, my
Speaker 1: special guest today to try to get this going. There
Speaker 1: are cameras everywhere, and guess what, we only got one
Speaker 1: of them to work, So it's been it's been an ordeal.
Speaker 1: But here we got one camera, really nice equipment to
Speaker 1: bring you guys a great show today, and it's my
Speaker 1: pleasure and I'm absolutely honored to interview you today, Varon
Speaker 1: And yeah, so apologies for everything I've put you through
Speaker 1: here for the next for the last forty minutes or so.
Speaker 2: Right, Geo, First of all, I really had no idea
Speaker 2: that this was this was your second episode because you
Speaker 2: made so much mistakes, man, I mean so many mistakes.
Speaker 2: But the poor the first one, whosoever was it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, that's what happens when you try to get
Speaker 1: really good equipment and you don't have the time to
Speaker 1: figure it all out. And but life is about taking
Speaker 1: action right and you got to get things done. And
Speaker 1: so again I'm just honored to have you here as
Speaker 1: a friend of mine for so many years now, like
Speaker 1: watching you grow, watching you grow your business and really
Speaker 1: taking action on a lot of stuff and giving some
Speaker 1: really good advice. So yeah, introduce yourself for the audience.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Jim So, Hello everyone. My name is Vern I'm
Speaker 2: the founder and CEO of eero HubSpot EEO Upspot is
Speaker 2: a training platform which deals with the certification programs like PMP,
Speaker 2: which is one of the most popular Project Management Professional
Speaker 2: certification given by PMI. And this is just one certification,
Speaker 2: but there are multiple more certifications which we deal with.
Speaker 2: So that's me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, And so I've had the pleasure of just
Speaker 1: witness you figure out, put business plans together, see what works,
Speaker 1: what doesn't work, pivot learn What do you think is
Speaker 1: one of the things as of late that you've been
Speaker 1: able to put into your business that's really made a difference.
Speaker 2: I think hustling, if you ask me personally, hustling is
Speaker 2: something you should always do and like a lot of
Speaker 2: people will say that, you know you don't have to
Speaker 2: do it. You need to have the right strategy I
Speaker 2: don't agree with that. No, you do the things, you
Speaker 2: learn from your mistakes, and once you learn, you you
Speaker 2: will figure it out. Right, we figured out the equipments
Speaker 2: were not working and it's coming out absolutely beautiful. So
Speaker 2: just learn it your way.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I have to tell you, like, like I
Speaker 1: sweat the details a lot in Varon is here saying
Speaker 1: let's just get it done.
Speaker 2: Let's just get it done.
Speaker 1: And that's one thing I love about Varon is like
Speaker 1: just seeing him take action, experiment if it's not working,
Speaker 1: pivot in, pivoting to something that is working. And I
Speaker 1: think it's it's You're a great example of what taking
Speaker 1: action actually does in someone's life.
Speaker 2: Yeah, correct action is I feel like, you know, taking act.
Speaker 2: A lot of people just make plans and like whosover
Speaker 2: is listening? This question is for you. Are you the
Speaker 2: one who is just making plans or are you the
Speaker 2: one who is actually executing it? Also? And Geoe, honestly speaking,
Speaker 2: looking at you right now, I'm really proud of you. Yes,
Speaker 2: there are times when you are just planning and you're
Speaker 2: not executing, but there is a time now where you
Speaker 2: are executing. Things are better. And you were actually telling
Speaker 2: me that you know, I feel so great that you
Speaker 2: know I'm doing all the things. So these are good
Speaker 2: steps personally speaking.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and so I know that your background, your dad,
Speaker 1: he's an educator, right, correct, And so you grew up
Speaker 1: in a household with a father who's an educator. How
Speaker 1: was that for you? And do you think it inspired
Speaker 1: you to take on this challenge to make an educational platform.
Speaker 2: Absolutely? So. My dad is a retired mathematics professor. So
Speaker 2: I still remember, you know, he used to like call everyone,
Speaker 2: all the neighboring kids will come to our house and
Speaker 2: he will be the one who will teach maths, mathematics
Speaker 2: to them. And right from my childhood, he always used
Speaker 2: to say this thing to me, what on if you
Speaker 2: want to get better at something, start teaching others. And
Speaker 2: that is what was engrossed in my life, that if
Speaker 2: you want to get better at something, just start teaching others.
Speaker 2: And that's why I actually opened made a new education platform. Now, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: and I think correct me if I'm wrong.
Speaker 1: You you were teaching project management at certain universities here
Speaker 1: in the States.
Speaker 2: Yes, so, I actually taught for University of Maryland, Baltimore
Speaker 2: County Training Centers. I was with them, and I actually
Speaker 2: taught for you know, Yukon also the Stamford location where
Speaker 2: I was teaching. I think it was risk management Associate professor.
Speaker 2: So I I've done a couple of gigs with the
Speaker 2: universities as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, how does your fa your father feel? I've
Speaker 1: been able to meet your dad. He's such a beautiful
Speaker 1: man and we got along right away. I started calling
Speaker 1: him dad right away. And how do you think your
Speaker 1: dad feels seeing you create this educational platform and how
Speaker 1: many people you've impacted along the way.
Speaker 2: So I think this question is more for my dad,
Speaker 2: but I will I'll give this answer. So my dad
Speaker 2: went through a heart surgery, a pretty big heart surgery
Speaker 2: back in India. And my sister, she's also an educator
Speaker 2: like myself. And I heard him saying to the nurse that,
Speaker 2: you know, both my kids are educators. They teach people,
Speaker 2: they make an impact in people's like life. And it
Speaker 2: was such a beautiful feeling when I heard my dad
Speaker 2: saying that out loud, proud to everyone that hey, you
Speaker 2: know what, that's what my kids do. I was feeling
Speaker 2: very blessed to hear that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's beautiful too, especially when you see your dad
Speaker 1: in this medical emergency. Correct, and the one thing he's
Speaker 1: thinking about is like, hey, I gotta brag about my kids. Yeah, yep,
Speaker 1: that's beautiful. So here we are. It's twenty twenty five
Speaker 1: and this year is already flying by. So quickly tell
Speaker 1: me how has been the journey from thinking about making
Speaker 1: an educational platform to following through and that whole trajectory
Speaker 1: to where you find yourself today.
Speaker 2: So I still remember when I actually started this. It
Speaker 2: was back in twenty twelve or thirteen. Like I didn't
Speaker 2: set up the company name. I used to go to
Speaker 2: people's houses and you know, I'll sit at the dinner table,
Speaker 2: sometimes in the study table, like you know, teach people.
Speaker 2: At that time. And last year I had a one
Speaker 2: on one meeting with not one on one. I was like,
Speaker 2: you know, meeting with the CEO of PMI. PMIS Institute,
Speaker 2: so we teach PMP Project Management Professional Certification and it
Speaker 2: is actually done by an organization PMI. So I was
Speaker 2: meeting with the CEO of PMI talking about what next
Speaker 2: steps which we can do it together for the project
Speaker 2: management community all over the world at a global level.
Speaker 2: It was such a you know, like a feeling of proud. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that you know you have come a long way. And
Speaker 2: if you ask me what is that one reason which contributes?
Speaker 2: I would always say that there's never one reason. There
Speaker 2: are ten thousand reasons. You make ten thousand mistakes, you
Speaker 2: learn from it. But one thing which always remains is
Speaker 2: never give up. Keep on doing it. If it's not working,
Speaker 2: do something in the till the time you figure it out.
Speaker 2: You will figure it out. Trust me on that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, never giving up.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: It reminds me of that caricature of a guy digging
Speaker 1: for diamonds in the cave and he quits right before
Speaker 1: he's going to strike a diamond. Right beautiful. And so
Speaker 1: now having your educational platform for project management, right you,
Speaker 1: One of my favorite things to do is log into
Speaker 1: LinkedIn and see all these beautiful testimonials. Right, how many
Speaker 1: individuals have you been able to impact and help them
Speaker 1: pass these exams?
Speaker 2: I've lost the count.
Speaker 1: Now that's a great problem to have.
Speaker 2: By the way, or YouTube has around close to three
Speaker 2: point five million views.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: Right now LinkedIn has closed to around fifty thousand followers Instagram.
Speaker 2: We have just started out. You know, when I started
Speaker 2: doing it, there was no Instagram at that time. So
Speaker 2: I can't tell you how many people, but it's definitely
Speaker 2: definitely six figure at least.
Speaker 1: Nice. Nice, that's a beautiful number. Like one day we
Speaker 1: wish we can figure out how many people we can
Speaker 1: impact and lose count. Right, Yeah, So and then what
Speaker 1: inspires you? You know, when when varun feels a little
Speaker 1: bit tired or like something's challenging you, where do you
Speaker 1: draw your inspiration from?
Speaker 2: So you know, when I'm down, I'm actually down, So
Speaker 2: I would continue, like I'll give up on some time,
Speaker 2: you know, I'll watch a TV or something. But when
Speaker 2: sometimes you know, you read an email from a student
Speaker 2: whom you have actually made an impact. You read the
Speaker 2: personal story, like someone sharing with you that, hey, Ron,
Speaker 2: I was going through a tough time. I was laid
Speaker 2: off and you know now because I did PMP, I
Speaker 2: got a job and it was just because of you.
Speaker 2: I would have you know, I've reached where I am.
Speaker 2: You know, those kind of things inspires motivates me to
Speaker 2: just keep on going. Sometimes I feel that is this
Speaker 2: the life I want to do? Because I'm working like
Speaker 2: fifteen hours, you know, fourteen hours, you know, it's like typically,
Speaker 2: but then when you read you know, testimonials emails like these,
Speaker 2: that you're making a real impact in people's life. It's
Speaker 2: worth it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. Yeah as a coach, just hearing the
Speaker 1: feedback and knowing that you made a big difference, whether
Speaker 1: you put on at the next level or youre advanced
Speaker 1: them or you've been able to have a breakthrough. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I do agree with you that those those touch points
Speaker 1: are so impactful and push you for that drive. Right.
Speaker 1: Is there anyone that you look forward to, you look
Speaker 1: up to? Is there a person that you're like, hey,
Speaker 1: like they've achieved this sort of success, like and you
Speaker 1: also draw inspiration from them. Any mentors?
Speaker 2: So yes, definitely I have a couple of mentors I
Speaker 2: would not deny that. I'll first of all start with
Speaker 2: my dad. My Papa has always been my biggest mentor,
Speaker 2: you know, whom like I always look up to the
Speaker 2: hard work, the effort which he has put into And now,
Speaker 2: if you ask me, hole, throughout the life, I have
Speaker 2: series of mentors for different things. Do you, honestly speaking,
Speaker 2: you are one of my mentors as well? Because like,
Speaker 2: see again I'm not making this up just because I'm
Speaker 2: talking to you. Yeah, but I'll give you the specific
Speaker 2: reason of why it is like that. Personally speaking, when
Speaker 2: I look at people, I'm very selective of the people
Speaker 2: I hang out with. And we all say this, you know,
Speaker 2: you should not judge, and you should not judge. It's
Speaker 2: a very typical statement. Still you always judge. It's a
Speaker 2: typical human psychology. And I judge. I'm not denying that.
Speaker 2: And when I judge, I look at you, someone who
Speaker 2: is without any personal selfishness or motivation. You are just
Speaker 2: keep on helping others, going out of the way to
Speaker 2: do that. So yes, you are my mentor to take
Speaker 2: that selflessness feeling from you. That's one from my official aspect. JJ.
Speaker 2: He's one of the persons who has always motivated me
Speaker 2: if I always look for entrepreneur you know, like guidance
Speaker 2: and all I always look up to. And we have
Speaker 2: a common friend and Susanne Kelly Susan, Oh my god. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: so she is also one of my mentor. I talk
Speaker 2: a lot to her, you know, I share my things,
Speaker 2: she shares secrets, you know, things which we should do
Speaker 2: it together. I think overall, it's all about the people
Speaker 2: you hang out with, people who are actually looking for
Speaker 2: making an impact and uplifting you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I agree with you. It's so interesting because
Speaker 1: obviously we're good friends and we have some deep talks.
Speaker 1: But it's so interesting to see that you and I
Speaker 1: share a commonality that we really just draw inspiration from
Speaker 1: the people that are around us the most. Right. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: Most people say, oh, there's this famous person or this
Speaker 1: Hollywood individual, or this person has the story. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I find that you as well get inspiration just from
Speaker 1: like those friendships that you built in those business connections
Speaker 1: as well.
Speaker 2: Correct.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and thank you. I had no idea I was
Speaker 1: one of your mentors. Yeah. Same here for me, Like
Speaker 1: you know, one of the things I love to do
Speaker 1: is go to your house and just you know, and
Speaker 1: you always give me new insights, insights that I love
Speaker 1: to get from you. And maybe you can give the
Speaker 1: audience because you have really been leveraging technology and technological
Speaker 1: platforms that have helped your business, how do you figure
Speaker 1: out which platform to go forward with or what new
Speaker 1: technological strategy can serve you for reaching more of an
Speaker 1: audience so people know about your business.
Speaker 2: So if you ask me personally, there are multiple Like
Speaker 2: there was a time when you know, I used to
Speaker 2: do YouTube, YouTube, was the most popular platform at that time,
Speaker 2: and that has. If you ask me how where I
Speaker 2: am right now, it's because of YouTube. That's the first thing.
Speaker 2: Then after post that, the visibility of YouTube actually decreased,
Speaker 2: and then in, you know, LinkedIn came into the picture.
Speaker 2: And I am the one who is working with work
Speaker 2: most of the time. My audience is working professional, so
Speaker 2: LinkedIn I became very active on and now I'm hearing
Speaker 2: all the younger generation they are more on Instain and TikTok.
Speaker 2: Still I'm not even to figure out how insta works,
Speaker 2: but slowly and gradually I started to work on that.
Speaker 2: But I think the one lesson out of this is
Speaker 2: it doesn't matter what the technology or what the platform is.
Speaker 2: What really matters is that you have to keep upskilling yourself.
Speaker 2: If you don't do it, you will fall behind. Simple Yeah,
Speaker 2: I do agree with you on that.
Speaker 1: And each platform had his nuances, and I think so again,
Speaker 1: I love. My favorite thing that I do is to
Speaker 1: go on LinkedIn and see like you grow in your audience,
Speaker 1: you grow on your platform, and so on LinkedIn. I've
Speaker 1: seen you you get relatively a great amount of success,
Speaker 1: like you get around twenty.
Speaker 2: To forty it's close to you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's close to fifty thousand. Yeah. And so having
Speaker 1: a nice audience like that and seeing all the people
Speaker 1: that comment and all the positivity that shared to me
Speaker 1: my favorite thing to do on LinkedIn. And you know,
Speaker 1: as a career coach, not being on LinkedIn, people say
Speaker 1: why not? Right because, but I love the fact that
Speaker 1: in other platforms you get to see the people and
Speaker 1: their colorful personalities as well. So it'd be nice to see,
Speaker 1: like as you try to figure out the different platforms,
Speaker 1: like what kind of content you'll create to kind of
Speaker 1: hit your niche in Instagram or Facebook and everything else
Speaker 1: that exists. Right now, every other day, I feel like
Speaker 1: there's a new platform. Correct, correct, So let's move on
Speaker 1: to your background. Right, So there's Varun the businessman, There's
Speaker 1: Varun the family man. But how was Varun growing up?
Speaker 1: How was So there's probably a lot of colorful stories
Speaker 1: there from you can tell from the smile that comes out.
Speaker 1: But tell me a couple of month milestone things that happened,
Speaker 1: you know when you were young that kind of shaped
Speaker 1: you as a man you are today.
Speaker 2: The milestone, I mean the younger generation Waron and the
Speaker 2: Baron now is completely different personality, completely different personality I was.
Speaker 2: If you asked me, how were you in studies? I
Speaker 2: was never the topper. I was. I wouldn't say I
Speaker 2: was the backbencher also, but I was typically on the
Speaker 2: notorious side. I won't call myself like, but I was. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: you know that's that's one thing from from the studies
Speaker 2: going on. I used to fight also, you know, there
Speaker 2: would be fights, you know, friends and all, not just
Speaker 2: friends like other people. Also, I have done all those
Speaker 2: things as well. I'm not proud of those, but still
Speaker 2: I mind studying it. Yeah, part of your story, but
Speaker 2: it's part of my story, right. So the things, the
Speaker 2: milestones which I have learned I would honestly speaking, when
Speaker 2: I started working. I've worked with some of the very
Speaker 2: good managers. I have some with some bad managers. Also,
Speaker 2: one thing I've learned from them is is this the
Speaker 2: kind of manager? Or is this the kind of person
Speaker 2: I would like to be? And I have drawn more
Speaker 2: of a feedback from people like these that Okay, this
Speaker 2: is the person I would never like to be, and
Speaker 2: this is the person this is how I would like
Speaker 2: to manage. So milestones as such have have I know,
Speaker 2: milestone is something which is significant. But like for me,
Speaker 2: milestone was when I get married and I started my
Speaker 2: own company, when my kid was born. You know, COVID started,
Speaker 2: So Covid was another pivoting needed for it. So so
Speaker 2: many changes. Yeah, and so that has been typically the
Speaker 2: milestones if you ask me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, So an adventurous varone as a young child
Speaker 1: and now you know, taking that energy or you know,
Speaker 1: maybe a little bit that fighting energy to make your
Speaker 1: business succeed.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: You know, I do find that people that that achieved
Speaker 1: a relative amount of success, there were definitely outsider sometimes
Speaker 1: black sheep, and they would get in trouble and then
Speaker 1: in some way, somehow they were able to channel that
Speaker 1: energy into creating something that's lasting. Right, correct, is there
Speaker 1: now we talked about I know that you were a
Speaker 1: little star in a certain sport. Can we talk a
Speaker 1: little bit about that.
Speaker 2: Yeah. If I used to play cricket, I was a
Speaker 2: school captain of my school cricket team. I was pretty
Speaker 2: good at school time. Then when I went to my
Speaker 2: undergrad cricket was not that very popular over there. Like
Speaker 2: I was. It was popular, but my university never used
Speaker 2: to play cricket that much. That was it, that was
Speaker 2: not the sport for them, so kind of I ignored it.
Speaker 2: But when I came back to States here in twenty twelve,
Speaker 2: that is when I started playing cricket again. The local
Speaker 2: community had very good cricket teams, and that is when
Speaker 2: I realized that I was not the best. I had
Speaker 2: so many better than me. But some of my best
Speaker 2: friendships came from cricket in States at least, I can,
Speaker 2: you know, probably say that some of my some of
Speaker 2: my bestest of best people are from cricket, and I
Speaker 2: really love them. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, It's so amazing how we can be so good
Speaker 1: and great at you know, in a certain sector or
Speaker 1: school or division, and then like all of a sudden
Speaker 1: you end up like placing a new division correct, and
Speaker 1: it's a whole different way of playing, a whole different level.
Speaker 1: And you're like, how am I the best here? And
Speaker 1: like maybe the second worst in this level? Exactly exactly, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree, yeah, And I can only imagine because you know, rugby,
Speaker 1: sorry cricket, I can say rugby, I don't know, why
Speaker 1: cut that up please? So in cricket, you know, it's
Speaker 1: not that popular in the States here, but I think recently,
Speaker 1: you were they held one of the biggest tournaments here
Speaker 1: in the States, right.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, So basically what happened was last year the
Speaker 2: Cricket World Cup was organized in the US and the
Speaker 2: Caribbean Islands because in West Indies it's cricket is a
Speaker 2: very popular sport. So there was a World Cup Cricket
Speaker 2: game which happened in New York and the biggest rivalry
Speaker 2: India versus Pakistan.
Speaker 1: Amazing.
Speaker 2: I went there to watch that game and it was
Speaker 2: a surreal experience.
Speaker 1: Wow, wow, amazing to think that you were so good
Speaker 1: at the sport. And I've heard some of the stories
Speaker 1: some may not be said on this on this episode,
Speaker 1: but to hear that and to hear that you've been
Speaker 1: able to grow to the World Cup first time in
Speaker 1: the US, yes, first time in US, amazing. The energy
Speaker 1: must have been after Richter scale.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't even ask. So let's let's go into
Speaker 1: a the educational platform. Right, So, lots of changes are
Speaker 1: happening in the workforce, lots of programs. Where would you
Speaker 1: if you were to start all over like today, how
Speaker 1: would you get into a good project management role?
Speaker 2: How would you get into a good project management role. Okay,
Speaker 2: So project management is typically for people who have a
Speaker 2: little bit of experience of managing projects. So someone who
Speaker 2: is fresh out of college, they might not get a
Speaker 2: project manager role immediately because that's more for a mid
Speaker 2: level career to senior leadership position. That's where you see.
Speaker 2: So I always say that if you want to move
Speaker 2: into project management, if you like managing projects, then you
Speaker 2: should start with CAPM certification. That's CAPEM Certified Associate Project Management.
Speaker 2: That's like the junior version of p MP, which is
Speaker 2: the most popular one, and that could help you to
Speaker 2: put your foot into the door of project management world.
Speaker 2: And that is when you can actually start working as
Speaker 2: project coordinators assistant project managers, and then eventually it will
Speaker 2: start and move towards the actual project management where you're
Speaker 2: managing multimillion dollar projects.
Speaker 1: Do you think that, if you're a recent grad if
Speaker 1: it's prudent to get certified immediately or should you work
Speaker 1: in the should you be in the workforce for one too,
Speaker 1: maybe a couple of years and then get certified as
Speaker 1: as a way to advancer or do you get a
Speaker 1: certificate almostly immediately or as part of your graduation.
Speaker 2: So, so GEO This is a conflict of interest question
Speaker 2: for me because I sell those courses, so I'll be
Speaker 2: a little bit of I'll be a little very sure,
Speaker 2: so I'll be a little bit biased, you know, to
Speaker 2: this answer, but I'll give you logical reasoning of why
Speaker 2: we should do what I'm always a strong believer of upskilling.
Speaker 2: I personally do that on myself, irrespective whether i'm you know,
Speaker 2: I'm just starting it out or not. It's always good
Speaker 2: to get these certifications right in the beginning itself because
Speaker 2: you get to understand the lexicon, the term logy which
Speaker 2: is used in the project management world, and that is
Speaker 2: a good starting point. And when you are actually managing
Speaker 2: projects and you are certified, you know the language which
Speaker 2: is going around you. So it makes more sense to
Speaker 2: be certified and at the same time work. One thing
Speaker 2: I have realized is once you get busy, you have
Speaker 2: family life, you have one thousand more things in your life,
Speaker 2: then it becomes so much tough to do these certifications.
Speaker 2: But when you're fresh out of the college, you still
Speaker 2: have that learning environment zone, you know the thought process,
Speaker 2: so it becomes a little bit much easier to do
Speaker 2: those certifications at that time.
Speaker 1: So I'm one hundred percent agree with you, And it's
Speaker 1: okay if you're biased, because I agree with you and
Speaker 1: I'm not biased. So as a career coach, I did say,
Speaker 1: you know, get certifications, just add them to your resume.
Speaker 1: It adds extra color, extra depth, and so, hey, you're biased,
Speaker 1: I'm not and I agree with you. So I think
Speaker 1: we're on the same page here. So now one of
Speaker 1: the things you've been recently doing is you know, past
Speaker 1: the exam without reading a book. Is that the correct?
Speaker 1: Did I get the advertising correct?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: Like, how did you come up with that? And what
Speaker 1: was it that that made you say, okay this, this
Speaker 1: would be a good way to get people excited about
Speaker 1: our program here.
Speaker 2: So see, every person's learning style is different, right. There
Speaker 2: are people who like to read books, and there is
Speaker 2: nothing wrong in that, right, But there are people like
Speaker 2: myself who are not just about books, who are more
Speaker 2: about the practical experience, the case studies, because that is
Speaker 2: how I tend to learn more. So my thought process
Speaker 2: was that if I can teach you something with a
Speaker 2: storytelling approach, make some kind of stories projects, because we
Speaker 2: are human beings we love stories, right, so true, so
Speaker 2: teach them how you would actually manage a project how
Speaker 2: in the form of storytelling and honestly speaking, whatever is
Speaker 2: in the book you can teach in the form of
Speaker 2: stories and it will work out pretty well.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I really love that approach because stories just they
Speaker 1: stick with you right correctly. Yeah, there's that emotional component
Speaker 1: of tying emotions plus the lesson, and when you can
Speaker 1: tie emotions in the lessons, I think you retain the
Speaker 1: information that much more. So is there a good example
Speaker 1: that you can think of? And if it's like a
Speaker 1: little too hard on the moment, it's okay, you can
Speaker 1: pass this question. But is there a good example where
Speaker 1: there's a particular story that you can tell to teach
Speaker 1: one of the lessons in project management?
Speaker 2: Sure? Absolutely, So I'm telling you that I don't know
Speaker 2: these questions. So it's everything is so. I remember one
Speaker 2: of one time one of my students he called me
Speaker 2: after like three years uh and said that, hey, everone,
Speaker 2: what's going on? You know? Things going well? Oh, I
Speaker 2: just wanted to let you know that, you know, I
Speaker 2: still remember your story of how how we we we
Speaker 2: went to buy a car. So when when we go
Speaker 2: and buy a car. Buying a car is like a project,
Speaker 2: like for example, if I need a four wheel drive,
Speaker 2: I need to spend X amount of dollars. If I
Speaker 2: do a two wheel drive, it's by amount of dollars. Right.
Speaker 2: If you take some matt finish or anything, then that's
Speaker 2: what the cost is. What if if you put something
Speaker 2: on these steering wheels, if you do, you know, put
Speaker 2: some fancy system music systems into that, then that's cost. Right.
Speaker 2: So ultimately that's a project. So he told me that
Speaker 2: we're on I still remember that story. Wow, that how
Speaker 2: you taught me the project management where we are actually
Speaker 2: going ahead and buying a car, and how it turned
Speaker 2: out like this would be the cost and it will
Speaker 2: take me X number of days for me to get
Speaker 2: it manufactured or something like that. I still remember it
Speaker 2: and I still use in my you know, day to
Speaker 2: day project. So he was from the automobile sector, and
Speaker 2: I was like, wow, sometimes I'll tell you one more.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, no, bring it down, bring it down. I
Speaker 2: still remember one more time I was telling a dish.
Speaker 2: I was making a chicken curry for dinner. Yeah, And
Speaker 2: when I'm recording videos, when I'm explaining the course, whatever
Speaker 2: goes around me, I start taking those examples and start
Speaker 2: teaching that. So one time my student called me up
Speaker 2: and you know, she said this to me that we're on.
Speaker 2: Oh I still remember your chicken curry story, how you
Speaker 2: were making the chicken And I said, Okay, did I
Speaker 2: say something like that. I didn't even remember it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because it's what was most recent in your memory,
Speaker 1: and that you were able to tie that story to
Speaker 1: your lesson amazing, amazing work, and so I agree with you. Wow,
Speaker 1: storytelling is such a great way to teach individuals and
Speaker 1: to retain more information as well. So here we are
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty five technological shifts. I feel like every
Speaker 1: day I open up, like you know, my web browser
Speaker 1: and there's a new technology, a quantum chip from Microsoft
Speaker 1: an AI that works better than chat GBT. So much
Speaker 1: going on as a project manager is there are there
Speaker 1: any tools out there that that you think are really
Speaker 1: changing changing the game when it comes to like managing
Speaker 1: projects for organizations.
Speaker 2: So there are many tools as such. What I would
Speaker 2: say is that what is happening, and it's not just
Speaker 2: with project management, I'll talk about in general to the
Speaker 2: entire industry space. So what is happening is let's talk
Speaker 2: about CANVA, right one of the most popular tool for
Speaker 2: graphic designing and right, So what they are doing is
Speaker 2: Canva has introduced the AI element into this tool. So
Speaker 2: all these big companies, whether it is project management related
Speaker 2: softwares or is it anything in general, they are introducing
Speaker 2: AI into it. Now, let's talk about Google. Google is
Speaker 2: a product. Right. If you go and you do a search,
Speaker 2: now every time you will see that on the top,
Speaker 2: you will see the result, which is an AI generated result.
Speaker 2: So that's what is happening in this world. We need
Speaker 2: to embrace AI. Please don't feel that, you know, it's
Speaker 2: too complicated. It's to think of it like a time
Speaker 2: when how the email was first discovered. Like most I'm
Speaker 2: pretty sure that people when email was discovered, most of
Speaker 2: the people would say, well it's so weird, it's right,
Speaker 2: you know who who does this?
Speaker 1: And write like that.
Speaker 2: I'm assuming that maybe the feeling this is the time
Speaker 2: here AI is it? Please? Please please go out learn
Speaker 2: as much as you can. Your time will be saved,
Speaker 2: and trust me, you will be one step ahead of them.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Like like you said, upskilling and just like being
Speaker 1: aware of the of not just trends, but like shifts. Right,
Speaker 1: Gott technologlogical shifts, and I think that you'll be put
Speaker 1: in the right you'll be set in the right direction,
Speaker 1: and you'll go with the river. If you if you
Speaker 1: swim against the river, you're gonna last two minutes. So, uh,
Speaker 1: we've got we're thinking about, like how can someone really
Speaker 1: succeed as a project manager this in this day and age. Right,
Speaker 1: you may not know this, but actually I was pretty
Speaker 1: much like two courses away from being like project management certified. Yeah,
Speaker 1: when I was when I graduated college, I took like
Speaker 1: a like a little understudy in project management. And I
Speaker 1: remember I had a really attractive school teacher and what's
Speaker 1: funny that she gave the an award to the wrong student.
Speaker 1: It was supposed to be me. And at the end
Speaker 1: she said, I made a mistake. I'm sorry, I forgot
Speaker 1: your name. I was like, oh man, but yeah, like
Speaker 1: I really got to learn about gant charts and at
Speaker 1: that time, it was MS project correct like the big
Speaker 1: driver of project management. So is there a particular software
Speaker 1: that you would recommend or it could be a sweet
Speaker 1: could be the top two or three that someone really
Speaker 1: get to know and become an expert in to really
Speaker 1: crush it. In their field.
Speaker 2: So MS Project, the name that you have said, is
Speaker 2: one of the most popular project management scheduling software. If
Speaker 2: you want to create project plans, then MS project is
Speaker 2: something which is widely used on the most popular. In fact,
Speaker 2: we have a course on that as well.
Speaker 1: So the link just kidding, there's no like.
Speaker 2: So that is one of the most popular one. But
Speaker 2: then there are other software is like Monday dot Com.
Speaker 2: You'll see a lot of advertisement of Monday dot Com.
Speaker 2: I don't know, I see it a lot because.
Speaker 1: I'm into this, but you see Monday dot com.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's another very famous. Then Jira is another
Speaker 2: very famous, uh project management tool. I would say the
Speaker 2: one right now. I think Gira is the most popular
Speaker 2: project management software.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, I've been working a lot with tech individuals
Speaker 1: to get jobs and Gira spelled j I r A right, Yep,
Speaker 1: that's correct. I see it a lot on the resumes
Speaker 1: right now. And it's more much more a two of
Speaker 1: for like for project management in the tech field, right
Speaker 1: to manage tech tech projects.
Speaker 2: I see, it's not necessarily tech projects. Jira can be
Speaker 2: used in any industry space because ultimately, whatever industry you
Speaker 2: are in, you are managing a project. If you are
Speaker 2: managing a project, you need a software which can help
Speaker 2: you to better manage the project. So Gira can be
Speaker 2: used anywhere. But yes, you are right. It's very popularly
Speaker 2: used in the tech industry because I think they were
Speaker 2: the one who actually created this tool.
Speaker 1: That's why got it, got it. Yeah, I remember Mondays
Speaker 1: dot Com was a guy who was like very unhappy
Speaker 1: with like whatever was out there, and he said, I'm
Speaker 1: going to make my own project like management sweep for myself.
Speaker 1: And then they were like, hey, this could be used
Speaker 1: by other people, and then investors came and Monday dot
Speaker 1: Com was born. I did, I did create a Monday
Speaker 1: dot com account and I like it. Sorry now so
Speaker 1: so Emma's project by Monday dot Com. Jira good tools
Speaker 1: to get to know and to to really crush it.
Speaker 1: As a project manager. What is the best mindset or
Speaker 1: to have as a project manager to really make sure
Speaker 1: projects are on time, that you're delegating correctly or checking
Speaker 1: in with the teams and incentivizing them around the goal
Speaker 1: of getting this project done to finish.
Speaker 2: So I think the best I would I always believe
Speaker 2: in communication. For me, open and honest communication is always
Speaker 2: the best way to go. What happens is when you
Speaker 2: deal with customers, we are typically not open with them,
Speaker 2: Like if I'm making a mistake or if I made
Speaker 2: a mistake, I will most likely not go to the
Speaker 2: customer and don't communicate that to the customer because I
Speaker 2: think I can fix it or I can hide it.
Speaker 2: And what typically happens is that in a longer run,
Speaker 2: that small mistake may backfire. You may become a big mistake,
Speaker 2: or you may just you know, don't fall into the crap.
Speaker 2: Also that can also happen. But again the point is
Speaker 2: be open, be honest, communicate in the end, whether it's
Speaker 2: your customer, whether it is you, whether it's your boss
Speaker 2: or whatever. People do understand, so you need to be
Speaker 2: the better judge that the other person will understand this
Speaker 2: or not. And if you think the other person will understand,
Speaker 2: be open, honest and communicate. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I love that, pure honest communication wins it all right, absolutely, Yeah,
Speaker 1: And putting everything on the table because I think you know,
Speaker 1: when you don't communicate, so many pitfalls are there to understand,
Speaker 1: like if someone is struggling, or if there's an opportunity
Speaker 1: like something that will cause a failure it could be
Speaker 1: caught like in advance. Yeah, I agree with you. Great
Speaker 1: communication is the key, guys. So here's the key with
Speaker 1: varun here. So what are some of the pitfalls that
Speaker 1: can happen to a project manager that could potentially derail
Speaker 1: their career or maybe they don't answers quickly? What are
Speaker 1: things they can avoid so that they can be a
Speaker 1: better project manager at the end of the day.
Speaker 2: See again, it's I like to give answers, not specifically
Speaker 2: on project management, but in a general generic sense because
Speaker 2: if let's say, and right now, it's not a good
Speaker 2: time going on, a lot of layoffs are happening, and
Speaker 2: some things are not in your hand right and you
Speaker 2: being a career coach, I don't think so nobody, like
Speaker 2: anybody knows more than you on this aspect. When we
Speaker 2: do something, when we are working, I know my salary
Speaker 2: is coming, everything is good, I become lazy. I feel
Speaker 2: like you know, I'm satisfied. I don't need to upskill myself.
Speaker 2: I'm okay with things. And when the layoffs happen, they
Speaker 2: don't see whether you are a good performer or you
Speaker 2: are the best performer. They just layoff departments. So true
Speaker 2: at that time, you're just a headcount for them. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and when something like this happens, then they suddenly start thinking, oh,
Speaker 2: I should have done this certification, I should have upscinn
Speaker 2: issue you know here, Okay, but now you need to
Speaker 2: get a job also at the same time because the
Speaker 2: paycheck which you were expecting is not coming. So when
Speaker 2: the time is right, upskill continue to grow because you
Speaker 2: never know things may change at any time.
Speaker 1: So got it? Got it? So I guess the pitfall
Speaker 1: is never stop learning, never stop or the pitfall is
Speaker 1: like if you stop learning really right, So never stop learning.
Speaker 1: Always develop, find out what's trending or what's the shift
Speaker 1: in your industry, and if it's project management, what are
Speaker 1: the new tools, what's getting outdated, and and follow that,
Speaker 1: get and become an expert. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I love that.
Speaker 1: That's a that's a really good insight. I love upskilling too.
Speaker 1: I like that we should get a T shirt up
Speaker 1: skilled today. We need some merch here, right, ver will
Speaker 1: get some MERCHERI for your for your platform there, and
Speaker 1: we'll go to Uh. I want to dig a little
Speaker 1: bit deeper to what would you say if so, maybe
Speaker 1: you could give me some insights like how uh what's
Speaker 1: the average that someone takes the the Project Management A
Speaker 1: certification exam before they actually actually pass it? Is there
Speaker 1: statistics out there for that? Like, you know, is it
Speaker 1: like an average to two times and one and a
Speaker 1: half as an average? Is there is there statistics out
Speaker 1: there tracking how many times it takes someone to actually
Speaker 1: pass that exam?
Speaker 2: Oh? Again, it depends from where you are taking the training.
Speaker 1: Yes, unbiased answer, wink wink. But let's say someone who
Speaker 1: didn't get the training next to me, So.
Speaker 2: It's a again, I don't have a specific statistics as well,
Speaker 2: like how many people pass the certification in their first attempt?
Speaker 2: But I feel like if you have the right resources
Speaker 2: with you, you can definitely pass the exam and first
Speaker 2: attempt itself.
Speaker 1: Nice. I love that. I love that. And so what
Speaker 1: is one thing that like that your students said, Hey,
Speaker 1: I struggled before, I didn't pass it, and then I
Speaker 1: got your program and it made all the difference. You know,
Speaker 1: is it just as storytelling or is there a little
Speaker 1: bit extra that you're doing that you feel definitely pushes
Speaker 1: them to really succeed at the exam.
Speaker 2: So storytelling is there are multiple things a world. It's
Speaker 2: not just one thing which I would say, like, for example,
Speaker 2: let's say you know that this is something good for
Speaker 2: you and you want to do it, right, that's just
Speaker 2: the first aspect that I want to do it. I'll
Speaker 2: put all the hard work. I'm all energized, I'm you know,
Speaker 2: I have the momentum, I have the motivation, will start something.
Speaker 2: Then what happens you start doing it? If the content
Speaker 2: is boring, you probably give up in one week. You
Speaker 2: probably give up in right, So then the next thing
Speaker 2: comes into picture is whatever you're learning, the way you
Speaker 2: are learning, that should be which you are comfortable. Okay,
Speaker 2: Now I have the right content, I start working towards it.
Speaker 2: But then life happens. Something came up in the office,
Speaker 2: something came up in your family time, right, and then
Speaker 2: you give up. Once you give up, then it becomes so.
Speaker 1: Hard to restart.
Speaker 2: Right. Think of it like a gym. Right. I always
Speaker 2: say this, I'll start from Monday, but that Monday never comes.
Speaker 2: And when that Monday comes, then on the weekend, I'm
Speaker 2: eating something again which I should not be eating because
Speaker 2: Friday comes every day.
Speaker 1: Yeah, if we have a sweet sieve of you and
Speaker 1: I definitely so.
Speaker 2: It's the thing is if something like this happens, that
Speaker 2: you start and you give up, then what is the
Speaker 2: next thing? What can you make sure that people don't
Speaker 2: give up? Because if people give up, I'm at loss.
Speaker 2: And why I'm at loss is because if they will
Speaker 2: not pass the exam, they will not go ahead and
Speaker 2: they will not recommend me more. If they don't recommend me,
Speaker 2: I will not get more people, more students, more business.
Speaker 2: So that was the problem statement which was defined in
Speaker 2: my mind, and that is when I came with that
Speaker 2: magic bullet. And that magic bullet was steady plan.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So what I did I introduce. I made sure that
Speaker 2: every student of mine has a mentor with them, a
Speaker 2: mentor assigned who is telling them that this is your
Speaker 2: homework number one, this is your deadline, and in this deadline,
Speaker 2: you need to do these four things.
Speaker 1: Wow, So you built an accountability system correct within your program.
Speaker 1: So you're not just getting a set of courses, You're
Speaker 1: getting a mentor along the way that's giving you a
Speaker 1: little bit of that pressure correct to make sure you
Speaker 1: complete the lesson plan or the task or the homework.
Speaker 1: And that hand holding does go along.
Speaker 2: With exactly, and that is when people don't give up
Speaker 2: because they start thinking that, you know what the stranger
Speaker 2: is thinking about me, who's asking me to do the
Speaker 2: things for my own career.
Speaker 1: I know it's that amazing.
Speaker 2: Why can't I study for it? I love that, And
Speaker 2: that's when it happened.
Speaker 1: See for me, this is beautiful because you know, we
Speaker 1: talk about business so much and we have so much
Speaker 1: on our plate, but I didn't know that facet of
Speaker 1: your business and I'm just fascinating and I love that.
Speaker 1: I love discovering that you created this program that has
Speaker 1: mentorship along the way. And kudos to you because I
Speaker 1: couldn't even imagine a program that wouldn't have something like that.
Speaker 1: So yeah, congratulations. I think that definitely makes a big difference.
Speaker 1: So we talked about what I heard from you create
Speaker 1: engagement engaging lesson plans that address different learning styles from
Speaker 1: visual learners, auditory learners, and then people that do like
Speaker 1: to do the data and love to read. Right, yep,
Speaker 1: you you cover the trifecta and then mentorship in the storytelling,
Speaker 1: and you've got a really amazing program that helps people
Speaker 1: get from point A to point B as quickly as
Speaker 1: possible without reading a book a book, just reading a
Speaker 1: few chapters here and there. No amazing, I really really
Speaker 1: love that. Yeah, it sounds sounds cool. So so I'm
Speaker 1: trying to get even I want to drill even further
Speaker 1: because this sounds so neat. So this explains why I
Speaker 1: see so many amazing testimonials on LinkedIn for sure. Now,
Speaker 1: if there's someone that other than project management, is there
Speaker 1: anyone that or any other program that you would say
Speaker 1: could advance someone even beyond that can help their career advance? Forward?
Speaker 1: Any other certifications out there or or fields a study
Speaker 1: that they can say, you know, pair up project management
Speaker 1: with this and it will definitely help your career advance.
Speaker 2: So it's a journey. Like the people who start with
Speaker 2: the like who are more fresh out of the college,
Speaker 2: more of a junior role, I tell them to start
Speaker 2: with the CAPM Certified Associate Project Management for mid level.
Speaker 2: I ask them to do a PMP Project Management Professional,
Speaker 2: which is the most popular one. More than one million
Speaker 2: people are PMP certified all over the world. US is
Speaker 2: number one in this list. And then after PMP people
Speaker 2: ask me what's next? Then I tell them to go
Speaker 2: into program management PGMP, which is not just managing one project.
Speaker 2: You are managing multiple projects in a program, and then
Speaker 2: from there you go to PFMP, which is Portfolio Management Professional,
Speaker 2: which is like you're managing the complete portfolio. So there
Speaker 2: is a journey based on where you are in your career.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. And by the way, I'm learning stuff here
Speaker 1: because I've heard about three of those certifications. I didn't
Speaker 1: know about the high level ones at all. Yeah, So yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess in the high level when you're managing multiple projects,
Speaker 1: that also you need the skills to manage multiple project managers,
Speaker 1: getting in project manager assistance and all that. Wow. Incredible,
Speaker 1: Like what kind of field of study would benefit from that?
Speaker 1: The higher programs, Like would you say like civil civil
Speaker 1: engineering or so.
Speaker 2: Field of study civil engineering construction? If you ask me,
Speaker 2: is you know their projects are like multi like billions
Speaker 2: of dollars?
Speaker 1: Yeah, building a damn right, there's like multiple like there's
Speaker 1: the plumbing that and then the cement and then like
Speaker 1: infrastructure right.
Speaker 2: Correct, yeah, correct, correct. So that's just one. I mean like,
Speaker 2: if you ask me PFMP Portfolio Management Professional, there are
Speaker 2: around eight hundred pfmps all over the world, only.
Speaker 1: Eight hundred, eight hundred, only eight hundred. Wow, I'm one
Speaker 1: of them. Woh, okay, so seven nine eight.
Speaker 2: So the thing is that and I'm not from civil Right.
Speaker 2: I was from it background, information technology. That was my forte.
Speaker 2: So it really doesn't matter which industry type you are
Speaker 2: focusing on. It can be anything because whatever you do,
Speaker 2: you have projects, you have programs, you have portfolios to manage.
Speaker 1: Amazing, amazing. So we get the full trifecta at every level, entry,
Speaker 1: mid level, and then would you say a senior level,
Speaker 1: is there anything for like to get into the C suite,
Speaker 1: which is like completely you know, the upper echelons of
Speaker 1: the corporate ladder, so c suite.
Speaker 2: I won't say there is any certification like this to
Speaker 2: be into c suite. I have never seen that. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that may be a good idea to come up with something.
Speaker 1: We came up with something today. There's a sign here.
Speaker 1: This is dream big.
Speaker 2: By the way, So yeah, and I totally believe in that.
Speaker 2: So I don't think so there's any certification for C suite.
Speaker 2: C suite is something which comes with the I think
Speaker 2: which comes with more with experience, the real left experience.
Speaker 2: And that's where MBAs I have seen, helps If you
Speaker 2: are from an Ivy League school, from Harvard Stanford. And
Speaker 2: also I have seen directly people jumping from an Harvard
Speaker 2: into a C suite executive. So it really depends from
Speaker 2: situation to situation.
Speaker 1: Amazing, amazing. Let's get so we're almost up to our
Speaker 1: hour here and we've got about ten minutes. Let's get
Speaker 1: like three. Let's see if we can come up with
Speaker 1: three actionable tips insights. So we name this Mastering Project
Speaker 1: Management in twenty twenty five this episode, what's one particular
Speaker 1: insight or trend that you're seeing that could be applied
Speaker 1: to this year to help someone either really scale. Let
Speaker 1: me take this back a little bit, right, So the
Speaker 1: we're living in economic layoffs, we're living in a period
Speaker 1: of turmoil industries or trying to figure out what the
Speaker 1: economy is. The President is making a lot of moves
Speaker 1: that are making the entire economy go in wild swings
Speaker 1: if you read the headlines. And so, what's one insight
Speaker 1: that you think, like a project manageer that's been recently
Speaker 1: laid off, like, what's one way that they could differentiate
Speaker 1: themselves in the market and try to create that new opportunity,
Speaker 1: whether it be just traditional ways of finding new opportunities,
Speaker 1: or is there a way that they can create their
Speaker 1: own opportunity given the fact that they're recently laid off
Speaker 1: and they're trying to get back into the work force.
Speaker 2: So it's a very good question. First of all, certifications
Speaker 2: definitely help. If you have not done certifications, I would
Speaker 2: definitely recommend you to work on these certifications as your
Speaker 2: top priority. But the real question which you asked me
Speaker 2: to you was more about how they can get back
Speaker 2: into workforce. So that is something which i have learned
Speaker 2: based on my experience and I've been working with a
Speaker 2: lot of people lately who have been laid off. It's
Speaker 2: just a very difficult period. You know, when you talk
Speaker 2: to people they say they have mortgage, is school daycre
Speaker 2: expenses and all. It's very painful. So what I have
Speaker 2: learned working with all the people who I have been
Speaker 2: able to get back into workforce, there is one common answer. Networking.
Speaker 1: There we go.
Speaker 2: Networking is something which actually goes a long way. So
Speaker 2: what I have been doing lately, and I'll tell you this,
Speaker 2: so I have a fifty thousand network in on my LinkedIn.
Speaker 2: So when any one of my students who reaches out
Speaker 2: to me and says that hey, I have been X
Speaker 2: y Z things have happened with me and I want
Speaker 2: to can you help me with that? So what I
Speaker 2: do is, first of all, I try to I ask
Speaker 2: them that, okay, go ahead and find the positions which
Speaker 2: are relevant to your profile. What you think you can
Speaker 2: do once they find it out, Like for example, they
Speaker 2: say that okay, Amazon is offering is looking for a
Speaker 2: project manager, and this is very much similar to what
Speaker 2: I'm doing. What I do is I try to find
Speaker 2: out someone who is working in Amazon and then request
Speaker 2: that person to please go ahead and refer the person
Speaker 2: for that particular position. So when an internal employee refers
Speaker 2: the other person, the probability of getting an interview call increases. Now,
Speaker 2: the problem is happening is like there are just so
Speaker 2: many people out there. It's all about demand and supply
Speaker 2: is less. Supplies just so much, right, So even after
Speaker 2: a referral is being put, there is a high probability
Speaker 2: that you may still not get an interview called Okay,
Speaker 2: let's resolve that problem now. Then next problem needs to
Speaker 2: happen is where you request the person who is referring
Speaker 2: the other person to please reach out to the recruiter
Speaker 2: or the hiring manager says some good things about you
Speaker 2: so that the chances of you getting an interview call increases.
Speaker 2: Like for example, if I send you a text and
Speaker 2: I say that he gu you're working for this company
Speaker 2: and this is a position which is in this company,
Speaker 2: can you talk to the hiring manager or can you
Speaker 2: send an email to the recruiter that to consider this profile.
Speaker 2: Would you say no to me? I would not say
Speaker 2: not to you, And that is how maximum number of
Speaker 2: people think. Ultimately, there are good people out there. So
Speaker 2: I always say this that if you reach out to
Speaker 2: ten people, maybe three people, four people will reply. But
Speaker 2: those three four people are good people, so they will
Speaker 2: go and take that extra step for you to reach
Speaker 2: out to the recruiter or the hiring manager to go
Speaker 2: ahead and do that push. And once an email comes
Speaker 2: from an internal employ to the recruiter, then it's like
Speaker 2: kind of boundation for the recruiter or hiring manager to
Speaker 2: reply to that person.
Speaker 1: Just take priority.
Speaker 2: So that is what I have been doing late. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I'll pick up on one insight that you said, right,
Speaker 1: So there's networking, but there's one more insight within that,
Speaker 1: which is finding a center of influence. Yeah, so a
Speaker 1: center of influence who's been able to create a network
Speaker 1: for themselves. Correct And if they like you, if you
Speaker 1: build a report with that person, they will then go
Speaker 1: ahead and do some of the legwork for you.
Speaker 2: Correct.
Speaker 1: So it's networking plus if we dig deeper, it's creating
Speaker 1: relationships with center of influences that will do some of
Speaker 1: the legwork for you and get you introduced to those
Speaker 1: relationships that are going to be pivotal for you to
Speaker 1: get back into the workforce. Right, exactly, beautiful. I love
Speaker 1: the way. I love the fact that you built this
Speaker 1: network that you can leverage now and help other people
Speaker 1: that have gone through your programs. So we got that
Speaker 1: center of influence plus networking.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: How about someone who is a mid level professional, right,
Speaker 1: and what could they do to get to that more
Speaker 1: of that senior place particularly like and let me know
Speaker 1: if this question makes sense, building on and using that
Speaker 1: skill set as a project manager, what can they do
Speaker 1: with these skills to scale up and get into those
Speaker 1: senior management roles?
Speaker 2: See? Getting into senior roles is it's a very tricky
Speaker 2: question because a lot of other dynamics are involved. If
Speaker 2: you ask me personally, politics is something which is heavily
Speaker 2: involved in company office politics. So it's not necessary that
Speaker 2: you have all the skill set and still you will
Speaker 2: get promoted. You know, you need to have the right dynamics,
Speaker 2: right relationships with people. And I always say this that
Speaker 2: you know, I'm not asking you to be a boot
Speaker 2: liquor or someone or you know, do that coaxing and stuff.
Speaker 2: You don't need to do that. But if you are
Speaker 2: genuinely doing the right things, if you are good at
Speaker 2: what you do, but at the same time, you know
Speaker 2: how to make relationships with people. One good thing about
Speaker 2: I was also laid off. I would not hesitate. I
Speaker 2: was laid off after eight years of working for that company.
Speaker 2: And I was in the beginning. I was a very
Speaker 2: good resource, you know, won the awards and stuff like that.
Speaker 2: But still I managed to work for eight years, and
Speaker 2: after a I kind of started to feel that I'm
Speaker 2: not giving my hundred person into this. I was being
Speaker 2: honest to myself and I'm being honest right now. Also,
Speaker 2: I knew in my heart that I'm not giving my
Speaker 2: hundred person because the situations, the things were, the way
Speaker 2: it was going in the organization. I could sense it
Speaker 2: out that you know, things are not right, the work
Speaker 2: is getting reduced and all. There could have been two
Speaker 2: ways I could have pivoted at that time. One I
Speaker 2: could have taken shown more initiatives. I could have put
Speaker 2: my leg into multiple things so that I show the
Speaker 2: real value to people. I could have done that in
Speaker 2: that time, but I deliberately didn't do it. The reason
Speaker 2: I didn't deliberately do it because I was working on
Speaker 2: you know, working on idio, HubSpot, working on that stuff
Speaker 2: and all, and my company knew about it, so there
Speaker 2: was no I'm not hiding it. I started putting more
Speaker 2: focus on that. But still for eight years I've worked
Speaker 2: for that company. I could have easily got lid off
Speaker 2: much prior to eight years. You know why I got
Speaker 2: didn't get laid off for eight years.
Speaker 1: Let's hear it.
Speaker 2: Relationship. There we go, just relationship, networking. I had a
Speaker 2: relationship with everyone. And let me tell you, I was
Speaker 2: never a bootleger. If you ask me, I use this
Speaker 2: word bootleger, he's.
Speaker 1: Not a bootleger. I can't even say the word I was.
Speaker 2: I was never. I was never that. But I had relationships.
Speaker 2: I always used to go to personal level to people,
Speaker 2: try to talk to them, understand what's going on at
Speaker 2: their personal level, they will try to talk to me.
Speaker 2: And that is where you build so much reper with
Speaker 2: people that when they are at the table where they
Speaker 2: are saying that, oh, should we let go this person
Speaker 2: or this person? No, no, no is a nice guy?
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah no, I agree with you there. So
Speaker 1: we can take a step back. We talked about networking
Speaker 1: center of influences. Don't forget to network within your organization, correct.
Speaker 1: You know, sometimes we can fall into a trap of
Speaker 1: just going to lunch by ourselves, or just eating and
Speaker 1: not interacting with our colleagues. And just so, I think
Speaker 1: one thing to even dig deeper into what you said
Speaker 1: is that if you're not a charismatic individual so, which
Speaker 1: is like the ability to charm others, right and build
Speaker 1: upon that, then then you're going to be at a loss,
Speaker 1: right yep. And so if you have a personality type
Speaker 1: that's a little bit like either harsh or too tense
Speaker 1: or maybe too shy, find a program that can help
Speaker 1: you become more charismatic and so you can build relationships
Speaker 1: and network within your organization. Then you don't get laid off,
Speaker 1: and you could make it into senior management up to politics.
Speaker 1: Bureaucracy and all.
Speaker 2: You know, some people go are introvert, and so some
Speaker 2: people will say that, oh, I'm not a charismatic person.
Speaker 2: But let me tell you, even though you're not a
Speaker 2: charismatic person, you are an introvert. You can still talk
Speaker 2: to people. So sure, right, you can still build relationships
Speaker 2: by being an introvert also, right, Yeah, it's all about
Speaker 2: taking those initiatives and steps which are important for your
Speaker 2: own career. You're not doing it for someone else, You're
Speaker 2: doing it for yourself. So take that step. Your life
Speaker 2: is going to get impacted, not someone X y Z's life,
Speaker 2: your life, So take those steps, and you need to
Speaker 2: take that ownership of that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I agree with you. That is beautiful. I
Speaker 1: love that. So we had a lot of issues starting today.
Speaker 1: There are cameras here. There are supposed to be AI
Speaker 1: helping us switch cameras and making it really engaging, and
Speaker 1: Varun you've been so kind and so patient with me today,
Speaker 1: so take your time. And he's on his phone getting
Speaker 1: business done and I'm here sweating the details, you know.
Speaker 1: So we had a we had a good time, and
Speaker 1: I'm truly truly blessed that you that you allow me
Speaker 1: and gave me the honor to make my second episode
Speaker 1: and they can only get better from here quality wise.
Speaker 1: Let's hope you next week. You know, vroon. How can
Speaker 1: people find you and uh particularly your platform if they're
Speaker 1: they're really interested to taking project management to the next
Speaker 1: level or to get uh get more information to see
Speaker 1: if it's something for them or someone they know in love,
Speaker 1: maybe refer them to your to your business.
Speaker 2: Sure, So my website address is www dot e d
Speaker 2: U HubSpot h U B s p O T dot com.
Speaker 2: So E do you HubSpot dot com. You can reach
Speaker 2: out to the website, go through the stuff and there
Speaker 2: is a chat option available, contact us option available. Reach
Speaker 2: out to people. Definitely, somebody from my team will help
Speaker 2: help you out. And just in case, if you would
Speaker 2: like to reach out to me directly, I don't mind
Speaker 2: sharing my information as well. You may I may take
Speaker 2: some time to reply back the I told you the
Speaker 2: fastest way, but still you can send me an email
Speaker 2: at warun dot anand so it's v A r U
Speaker 2: N dot A n A n d at the rate
Speaker 2: edu HubSpot dot com, or just find me on LinkedIn
Speaker 2: was and you'll probably find out some way related to
Speaker 2: Project Man and you'll find it out.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, you'll see a rock star guitar, not just kidd.
Speaker 1: So thank you guys for tuning into the second episode
Speaker 1: of the Breakthrough Lab. Remember your next Breakthrough starts here. Varon,
Speaker 1: thanks so much.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, you, thank appreciate you for inviting
Speaker 2: me today. It was an honor and a pleasure to
Speaker 2: talk to you as well.
Speaker 1: Appreciate you, varun I, appreciate the audience and we'll see
Speaker 1: you guys next time. Take care, Thank you, goodbye. Ricaras